#powerofprotest

[sonsandbrothers]

Today, we mark the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination in Memphis, during his visit to support Black sanitation workers who were on strike.

The night before, King delivered his prophetic "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. ✊🏿

#RiseUpAsOne #DrKing #PowerOfProtest #Justice4All #MLK50

[trealmagazine]

#treal So @radioonelife selected #PowerofProtest #jaytvlive #BalckHistoryMonth theme in #Ferguson and what occurred after the murder of #MikeBrown was important proud to present YouTube.com/thebobbypen (at Ferguson, Missouri)

[amodernmind-blog]

The #PowerOfProtest

The #PowerOfProtest

Viviana Formoso

It is no secret that the majority of the people of the United States, (and most of the rest of the world) are not happy with the current president. Not only due to his inexperience with politics, but mainly due to the irrational, offensive, inappropriate, alternative fact-inghogwash that comes out of his month, and his Twitter account. Luckily, we still have the first amendment (for now at least) allowing the people the freedom of speech. Thus, invoking a long list of protests, quite possibly the most protested president in the history of the U.S. Let’s take a look at the most impactful protests thus far.

INAUGURATION DAY

We begin with the heaviest of all protests, with people taking a stand and fighting for what they believe in, across all 50 states (Links to an external site.). Not only was the United States truly impacted and appalled by the elections outcome, but so were 32 other countries, that also made sure to have their voices heard regarding their disapproval. The marches in Washington D.C. had the largest outcomes, with multiple marches joining together to create the largest inaugural protest the world has ever seen, and an even larger appearance on social platforms.

#J20Resist (Links to an external site.) was the largest ‘anti-Trump’ protest gathering, with groups that were against Trump’s assaults on migrants, LGBTQ, unions, black people, women, and the working class.  

#InaugrateTheResistance (Links to an external site.) protest were against militarism, war, racism, scapegoating, neoliberal capitalism, assault against workers, racism, and women’s rights.

#Trump420 (Links to an external site.) was put together by the DCMJ, where protest organizers rolled 4,200 marijuana joints, and handed out two per person (over the age of 21) at the inauguration ceremony. They all lit their joints 4 minutes and 20 seconds into the inaugural speech, to protest Trump’s policies on Marijuana use.

#NotMyPresident (Links to an external site.) was by far the largest protest on social platforms, with the hashtag still generating traction online. The people refuse to recognize Trump as their president.

Other protest marches (Links to an external site.) like Equality Coalition, Occupy Inauguration, Black Lives Matter, Queer Resistance, The Future is Feminist, Festival of Resistance, and Climate Convergence and Action, joined up with the sister marches, to amount to the largest inaugural protest of time.

IMMIGRATION/MUSLIN BAN

Trump signed an executive order (Links to an external site.) banning immigration in predominantly Muslim countries that included Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia. The ban also included not allowing any refugees to enter into the U.S. for 120 days. He signed this ban with the claim that he is protecting the United States from terrorists. The U.S. and other countries were outraged. Many made their way to airports in protest, as this goes against the constitution. According to CNN, airports in San Francisco, Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, JFK, Raleigh, Houston, Seattle, Portland and many more, were slammed with protesters. Protesters also flooded the streets of D.C., and many city hall locations throughout the U.S. Many immigrants were stuck in airports, separated from their families that awaited their arrival. Trump fired Attorney General, Sally Yates, because she refused to stand by the ban. Eventually, multiple judges blocked the ban, and the ban was removed altogether, as it was proved to be unconstitutional, leaving a very grump-Trumpy.

WOMEN’S MARCH

Following the inauguration, thousands of men and women protested for women’s rights. According to Vox, 4.2 million people joined the women’s march in protest, across 600 cities (Links to an external site.) in the United States. There were protests in every state across the entire United States, totalling to one of the largest U.S. protests to date. The Women’s March took it one international step further, including sister marches in Sydney, Berlin, London, Paris, Nairobi, and Cape Town, according to CNN. Tons of celebrities joined in on the movement, delivering empowering speeches to unbelievably large audiences. Given the comments made by (at the time) presidential candidate, Donald Trump, that degraded women, showed that his stance on the rights that women have as people (because, news report, women are, in fact, people too --shocking, I know) which according to him were not much at all, since all you have to do is “grab them by the pussy” and they’ll listen. The women’s march makes it clear what they stand for in their mission statement on their website:

“The rhetoric of the past election (Links to an external site.) cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us - immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault - and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.”

NO BAN, NO WALL

One of Trump’s platforms while running for president, was to ban immigrants, and build a wall between the border of Mexico, and the United States. Many thought this was just another one of Trump’s crazy ploys to try to win more votes, but we were wrong. Once becoming president, he continued his antics on pushing for the wall, claiming and demanding that Mexico would pay for it, no matter what they say. This proved invalid, and Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, has repeatedly stated that he will not pay for this wall, no matter what Trump demands. According to the Washington Post, while announcing his presidential bid, Trump stated that:

“When Mexico sends its people (Links to an external site.), they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”